3.3TT Defective Michelin Pilot Sport 4s?

[StungBlueGT2]

I’m baffled right now and very disappointed with my OEM Michelin tires. I only have 8k miles on them and my left rear tire is literally falling apart. There are multiple chunks of rubber all over the tire that keeps coming off while driving.

Worst part...Kia service won’t replace them since there is NO warranty on new vehicle tires. They claim it’s normal wear & tear from the soft rubber in the Michelins and simply need to be replaced.

Unless I’m mistaken I still see the “wear warning” marks in the treads and they seem like they have plenty of miles left in them. I feel like Kia is trying to take advantage of me, but I’ve already talked to two managers and they still won’t cover them.

I’ve had dozens of different “high performance” tires on many of my cars and never had this problem. Is this a defective tire? Is this something worth fighting Kia over to replace? Or should I believe Kia and just blame the Michelin’s for POS tires that fall apart in under a year...

Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ozstung]

Sounds like you should call Michelin they maybe aware of this previously? It's worth the call. Explain that Kia couldn't give a rat's arse.

 

[brancky3]

Worst part...Kia service won’t replace them since there is NO warranty on new vehicle tires. They claim it’s normal wear & tear from the soft rubber in the Michelins and simply need to be replaced.

That doesn't look like normal wear/tear to me...
I would contact Michelin and see what they can do.
Tire Warranty | Michelin Promise Plan
Here's the OE warranty document: https://www.michelinman.com/upload/... Owners Manual Warranty MDW40307 REV 1118.pdf

 

[Callum]

Call Michelin. I just had two rear tires replaced and had an excellent experience. They are cutting me a check back

 

[Doel]

no car manufacturer warranties tires, unless you buy that road hazard warranty, you'll have to contact Michelin. I've seen damage like that before, it was on a GTR during a track day, he slid off and hit the rumble strips sideways. I'm not saying it's your fault, but there are things people can do to cause this type of damage. It's usually a combination of lost traction and a rough surface. Considering it's the back tire, the PS4 is quite soft, and you're in a hot part of the country, that all increases the likelihood. It could have been something as simple as accelerating over some shallow potholes, your back tires lose traction for just a second, and the pavement knocks chunks of rubber off. Hard cornering and donuts could also be the cause, this type of tire damage is VERY common among drifters.

 

[robz32]

Definitely a compound issue. I see that you are also suffering form the premature wear on the center of the tire.

Contact Michelin directly and they will be able to help you.

 

[eflyguy]

Can't tell from the angle of the pics but to me it looks like they are at the wear limits - those bars in the grooves are near the surface of the rest of the tread? I agree with everything above about imperfect road surfaces..

Anyway, the tire manufacturer warranties the tires, these are for 15k miles on a staggered setup, so you should get a hefty discount on a new set as long as you work through an authorized Michelin dealer.

I don't expect to get more than 6-8k out of mine. If you drive this car the way it was intended, you're going to shred these tires long before the advertised mileage.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I've been posting these pics a lot lately! Those are my Michelins at 10K miles. The Big O test showed the fronts "almost like new" and the rears are at 80%. I'm thinking that only two explanations are going to work here (and not mutually exclusive either): you are a "spirited" driver and hard on tires; and/or the tires you have are flawed. I agree with the above: go directly to Michelin with this and get that prorate!

 

[Never thought]

Like others said, call Michelin. I had a bad Pilot Sport 4 that was causing a radial pull. All of the Pilot sport 4 tires were on backorder. So I called Michelin and they hooked me up with a full set of Pilot Sport 4S for zero charge. They will make it right. But I had only 6/10 or so on the rears after about only 8k miles. Crazy how fast the tread goes on these.

 

[Doel]

Can't tell from the angle of the pics but to me it looks like they are at the wear limits - those bars in the grooves are near the surface of the rest of the tread? I agree with everything above about imperfect road surfaces..

Anyway, the tire manufacturer warranties the tires, these are for 15k miles on a staggered setup, so you should get a hefty discount on a new set as long as you work through an authorized Michelin dealer.

I don't expect to get more than 6-8k out of mine. If you drive this car the way it was intended, you're going to shred these tires long before the advertised mileage.

Not sure if he can get a mileage warranty on these guys, found this tidbit on Michelin's website.
"All MICHELIN passenger and light truck replacement tires are covered by a limited mileage warranty. Original Equipment tires starting with 2018 model year vehicles are excluded from mileage warranty coverage."

 

[eflyguy]

Not sure if he can get a mileage warranty on these guys, found this tidbit on Michelin's website.
"All MICHELIN passenger and light truck replacement tires are covered by a limited mileage warranty. Original Equipment tires starting with 2018 model year vehicles are excluded from mileage warranty coverage."

Interesting. Callum just had his rears replaced (just a few posts above) and is expecting a check.

 

[Doel]

Interesting. Callum just had his rears replaced (just a few posts above) and is expecting a check.

good to know!

 

[StungBlueGT2]

Thanks for the input and I did already reach out to Michelin.

Unfortunately they confirmed there is no “tread-wear” warranty and the best they could do would be to give a prorated credit based on wear. However that credit would only be valid on another Michelin tire, and I would have to pay full retail price from their dealer~$600+

That’s like going out to eat at a restaurant, finding a bug in your food and them only offering 20% off your next order. I wouldn’t want their disappointing food again, so a discount off buying their inferior product again is just insulting...

Also I didn’t measure mine but agree they are worn almost to the “wear marks” so any credit I would receive would be minimal and not worth going that route. And unless they were replacing them for free, I would never get those POS tires again...

no car manufacturer warranties tires, unless you buy that road hazard warranty, you'll have to contact Michelin. I've seen damage like that before, it was on a GTR during a track day, he slid off and hit the rumble strips sideways. I'm not saying it's your fault, but there are things people can do to cause this type of damage. It's usually a combination of lost traction and a rough surface. Considering it's the back tire, the PS4 is quite soft, and you're in a hot part of the country, that all increases the likelihood. It could have been something as simple as accelerating over some shallow potholes, your back tires lose traction for just a second, and the pavement knocks chunks of rubber off. Hard cornering and donuts could also be the cause, this type of tire damage is VERY common among drifters.

Good points and actually brings up another factor specific to my situation.

I don’t corner hard or drift, and never have done donuts in my Stinger... However, my local roads are all patched up and have lost traction under mild acceleration before. Also, I had a defective rear differential that was serviced multiple times before it was replaced. It would push more power to one wheel and would easily lose traction all the time, especially over any bumps. Even the service mananger said the LSD could be a factor on uneven tire wear & loss of traction. That seems like even more of a reason that defective OEM parts contributed to the excessive & unusual wear.

With that said I’ve lived in the same area for 20+yrs with multiple cars & multiple high performance tires and never had this problem. Bottom line, $300 Michelin’s shouldn’t have these issues and the fact that Kia or Michelin isn’t stepping up to make their customers happy is simply disappointing.

I've been posting these pics a lot lately! Those are my Michelins at 10K miles. The Big O test showed the fronts "almost like new" and the rears are at 80%. I'm thinking that only two explanations are going to work here (and not mutually exclusive either): you are a "spirited" driver and hard on tires; and/or the tires you have are flawed. I agree with the above: go directly to Michelin with this and get that prorate!
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Lol. No offense but those tires don’t have 10k miles on them. They still have the new tire “hairs” on them... They come off after a few hundred miles, not thousands.

I understand you’re making a point but providing misleading info isn’t helping me or anyone.

I don’t deny I drive the car how it was designed...as a high performance GT. But I’m not abusing it and never had similar issues on any other high performance car or tire I’ve owned. A defective tire makes the most sense, but nobody wants to make it right so now I’m forced to buy new tires in less than a year.

Don’t get me wrong I still love my Stinger, and know new models are prone to issues. It’s just disappointing having so many issues in less than a year, and now Kia’s refusal to resolve a customer issue is making it really hard to keep recommending them. Just not what I expected from a $50k high performance GT thats trying to compete with Audi, BMW & MB...

 

[MerlintheMad]

Lol. No offense but those tires don’t have 10k miles on them. They still have the new tire “hairs” on them... They come off after a few hundred miles, not thousands.

I understand you’re making a point but providing misleading info isn’t helping me or anyone.

LOL! Back at you, sir. I have the tires to show anybody. And I replaced them with Nitto Motivo UHP A/S on 28 September. I currently have 15,219 miles on my car. This pic was taken on the 21st Instant.

I am a "spirited" driver only in spurts or dashes. The rest of the time (I am sure 99% of the time) I drive like my daddy, like a grandpa.

 

[eflyguy]

Those remaining "hairs" are only on the wear bars that sit well below the actual tread. Merlin had those OEM tires on for ~10k miles before switching for winter.

I doubt I'll get 7k out of mine before being totally worn, but not everyone drives like me..

 

[Weareblondi]

the lsd issues can be a reason for wear on the tires, especially if they aren't powering at the same rate. that being said, I had posted months ago about how the pilots felt greasy during spirited runs. never liked the pilots, and as per a conversation with the mrs, we agree that once the tires needed to be replaced we were going to run away from the pilots.
to stungblue, bro I feel for you. I know how much you love your car and the problems you have experienced is heart breaking. but I would keep at Michelin on their tires. I am not sure if you have done a search and see if all pilots are experiencing this, across all car makes and models. if it is just a stinger specific problem, then yes, something is off with the suspension that is allowing the car to eat tires. but if it is a prevalent problem with the tires, then they, Michelin, has to step up and not be a little sh*t and fix this.
and dump those pilots, my z06 had pilots, and that was the first time I experienced the greasy feeling, and that was awhile ago. dumped those tires first chance I had. please keep us posted as to what you have decided.

 

[Marc Collins]

Aren't there others on here who have experienced and reported the shedding? I certainly don't think it's an isolated issue, but don't have time to do a full search and investigation.

 

[Doel]

Aren't there others on here who have experienced and reported the shedding? I certainly don't think it's an isolated issue, but don't have time to do a full search and investigation.

I've never heard of anyone else here with the chunking. Low durability, absolutely.

 

[brancky3]

I've never heard of anyone else here with the chunking. Low durability, absolutely.

I think that's the case with most summer tires though... I only expect to get ~8-9k from a summer tire personally. Gotta pay to play!

Also on my motorcycle my tires were done after ~2500 miles, it could be worse

 

[StungBlueGT2]

the LSD (Limited Slip Differential) issues can be a reason for wear on the tires, especially if they aren't powering at the same rate. that being said, I had posted months ago about how the pilots felt greasy during spirited runs. never liked the pilots, and as per a conversation with the mrs, we agree that once the tires needed to be replaced we were going to run away from the pilots.
to stungblue, bro I feel for you. I know how much you love your car and the problems you have experienced is heart breaking. but I would keep at Michelin on their tires. I am not sure if you have done a search and see if all pilots are experiencing this, across all car makes and models. if it is just a stinger specific problem, then yes, something is off with the suspension that is allowing the car to eat tires. but if it is a prevalent problem with the tires, then they, Michelin, has to step up and not be a little sh*t and fix this.
and dump those pilots, my z06 had pilots, and that was the first time I experienced the greasy feeling, and that was awhile ago. dumped those tires first chance I had. please keep us posted as to what you have decided.

Thanks for the info and the support. I agree, worst tires I’ve ever owned and never had good traction.

I’ve searched and found sporadic issues, especially is colder weather but not like the recalls on them they had before. Think they’ve had 2 recalls on the pilots but not yet on the newer 4s. And they said only sidewall bubbling or splitting of the radials is considered defective, tread is not covered at all since beginning of 2018. Seems they had a lot of issues with treadwear and stopped warranting tread completely... So their best help is a discount on the same POS tires. That’s not helping so unfortunately both Kia and Michelin are useless.

Aren't there others on here who have experienced and reported the shedding? I certainly don't think it's an isolated issue, but don't have time to do a full search and investigation.

I thought so too, but now I can’t find anything so it possibly got deleted.

I think that's the case with most summer tires though... I only expect to get ~8-9k from a summer tire personally. Gotta pay to play!

Also on my motorcycle my tires were done after ~2500 miles, it could be worse

So besides Merlins magical Michelins that are still brand new at 10k, the consensus is our Michelin’s or most summer tires will only last 7-10k? I even got 16k out of my Goodyear Eagle F1s and that was on a 455ci V8 TransAm with 500hp!

I hoped to get 15-20k like I’ve gotten on all my other summer tires so this is still extremely disappointing. I guess if it’s expected to go through rear tires that fast then its making me consider a good set of used UHP tires for only $100. Then I can get 6 sets of them for the same price as 2 POS Michelin’s and not deal with Kia or Michelin’s BS again...